The Browns are continuing to invest in the needs of their players, as they embark on a modernization project of the training facility at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus.

The Haslam and Johnson families are making a $70 million investment in upgrading the training facilities, which will focus on the player locker room, cafeteria, team auditorium and position meeting rooms.

"This investment doesn't happen without their support, they're 100 percent funding this project," Haslam Sports Group SVP of Operations Phil Dangerfield said. "They've demonstrated since they bought the team their willingness to invest, and this is just another demonstration of that. All these improvements are focused on enhancing the player experience and meeting their needs."

The project is set to take place in two phases. The first phase will focus on the player locker room, with the new locker room space set to open in July 2027 ahead of training camp. The second phase, which will include a new two-story addition with the café, position rooms and team auditorium – with the final pieces in place by June 2028.

The facility first opened in the 1990s and has served as the training grounds for the Browns for over 30 years. Since taking ownership in 2013, the Haslams have invested in the facility continuously, including a major weight room renovation and upgrades in 2023. Now, this modernization project is the next piece of that continued investment.

"Coming out of that project and hearing the positive response from our players, we really started to assess what are our other needs that we have at this facility," Dangerfield said. "The last time we renovated this facility to a large extent in our player spaces was in 2016. And obviously needs in the last 10 years – in terms of how our players utilize spaces, how they learn, their nutritional needs – have evolved considerably in that time. After talking with our players, as well as the staff that work with them closely in all these areas, we identified these three primary areas of need that we wanted to tackle as part of this facility modernization."

From the initial stages of the planning, players' perspective played a critical role in the scope of the project. Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Football Operations Catherine Hickman said they surveyed a set of players – including veteran players who have been with the Browns, new veteran players and young players – to capture different perspectives across the team. The main points of feedback fueled the initial spaces to include in the project. Hickman said they also worked with the architects to illustrate what a typical player's day is comprised of, in order to design the layout as intentionally and efficiently as possible to support their movements around the facility.

Dangerfield and Hickman both highlighted that the top priority based off player feedback was to upgrade the locker room. Dangerfield also added that the locker room was an area they could make an impact immediately as the first phase of the project.

After the initial feedback and early designs, a second survey centered more specifically around the locker room and player lounge, focused on what players wanted in those specific spaces and how they would utilize the spaces. Hickman explained they also conducted a recent test of lockers, where both a lineman and a skills player used the locker for a handful of days and provided feedback on the functionality of the locker.

"The players have been really wonderful in giving us feedback, being candid and ultimately, we want that to be a space that they love, they're comfortable in and we can maximize their performance," Hickman said.

As the locker room acts as the heart of the team, the Browns are dedicating space to foster a place to prepare, recover and connect as a team. The player locker room will grow from about 2,980 square feet to 4,800 square feet. Each player will have twice the space currently available at their individual locker, with the locker footprint increasing to 40 square feet.

The new player lounge will be about 2,205 square feet, providing a place for players to relax and spend time outside of the locker room. The suite adds a sauna and steam rooms, 18 showers, nutrition stations, a weigh-in area and a barber space, while the new Fit Lab gives the equipment staff a dedicated space to fit and showcase helmets, pads and cleats.

"I think it's really important for a variety of reasons, but the main themes that the players shared were an area to wind down and relax in a casual setting, where if they wanted to lay on a chair and wear the Normatec boots, they could do that there," Hickman said. "So, a space where they can recover and relax, but also maybe a space where they can play. Obviously, the famous ping pong table has been in a variety of locations over the years. So, can we find a way to have it in there?"

The second phase concentrates on additional player space areas, with both the team auditorium and position rooms to have upgraded spaces and technology. The team auditorium will feature larger seats that will increase in size from 20 to 30 inches, as well an increased number of seats from 119 to around 140 seats. The overall space of the team auditorium will be 3,430 square feet.

The position meeting rooms will also double in size, in order to increase the square foot per chair to 15 square feet per person, with a demonstration space to walk through technique in the room. The position rooms will also open directly into the fieldhouse, giving coaches access to take their learning from the classroom to the field.

"There are so many different ways and so many methods of learning. Kinesthetic learning is becoming more and more prevalent," Hickman said. "It always has been prevalent, but now it gives us an opportunity to really do it quickly and maybe an opportunity to go and come back.  So, I think what it does is it will give flexibility to the coaches to adapt their teaching methodology to how the players learn best, and I think that's critical. "

The café will see upgrades to both the back-of-house space and the overall seating. The food preparation area will nearly double in size, as well as feature an increase to the size of storage areas.

The café's seating will also increase to around 150 seats – allowing the entire roster and staff to be seated together – and will include a larger serving line of about 105 feet long. A coffee bar and grab-and-go section will also be featured in the café area, while a new outdoor patio that will have the capability to host over 50 people.

"Over the last 10 years, in particular, our players' nutrition requirements and our approach to nutrition have really changed," Dangerfield said. "And so, we're updating these spaces to reflect those needs. Our serving area and our capabilities in the serving area – whether it's the action stations or things like that – are being enhanced."

Construction on the first phase involving the player locker room is set to begin following the end of the 2026 season, around February 2027. Running parallel to the first phase will be the construction of the new addition, with the café, position meeting rooms and adjustment so the equipment space set to be completed before the 2028 offseason programs begin. Then, the team auditorium and staff locker rooms will be delivered by June 2028.

"We're so fortunate to have our ownership group willing to support the suggestions and the ideas that we have, as long as it's well supported," Hickman said. "To see that and now the next step being the renovation of the facility, I think it's an additional example of their commitment to winning and the commitment to serving the players. The players are a priority. They always will be. And these are things that are showing them that we heard you, we see it and we will act on it. That was also something that was important to ownership is making sure the players are involved in sharing their feedback so that we can make a project we can all be proud of and all benefit from, starting with the players."